PPS Tutor Pack: Teaching Reading to Adults - Adult Literacies Online

150 Pages·2009·2.37 MB·English

by  Windows User

Learning Connections PPS Tutor Pack 

Learning Connections
Professional Practice Seminars:
Teaching Reading
to Adults
A pack of resources and ideas for adult
literacies tutors

Judith Gawn, Jay Derrick, Samantha Duncan and Irene Schwab

“A collection of ideas, strategies, innovations, resources and terribly
clever practices.” (Comment from one of the participants’ evaluation
sheets)

July 2009

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Learning Connections PPS Tutor Pack 
Contents

Section A: Background 4
Who the pack is for 4
How the pack came about 4
About the teaching programme 4
Aims and objectives of the teaching programme 5
The rationale for the teaching programme 6
What the tutors did and what info was drawn on 7
Suggestions for using the pack as a teaching and CPD resource 8

Section B: Teaching and Learning Activities -
based on classroom investigations and case studies 9
Talking to learners about reading 9
Stimulating interest in reading 11
Linking reading to practices outside the classroom 12
Working with beginner readers: 14
The Language Experience approach
Using Phonics
Working with mixed ability groups 16
Reciprocal reading
Working with specific groups of learners 18
Finding and using appropriate materials: 20
Choosing texts
Simplifying texts
Teaching and learning approaches: 22
Giving feedback on reading
Identifying errors in reading
Reading for comprehension

Section C: CPD activities 26
What happened on the Professional Practice Seminar programme 26
Organising a tutor-led investigation 26
Further ideas for CPD activities 27

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Section D: Links to resources on the theory of teaching reading 33
‐ Irene Schwab’s presentation for the PPS programme: ‘Working with Mixed
Ability Groups’
‐ Sam Duncan’s paper for the PPS programme: ‘What are we doing when we
read? – adult literacy learners’ perceptions of reading’ This is a draft version
of a paper to be published in Research in Post-Compulsory Education in
autumn 2009
‐ Jude Gawn and Jay Derrick’s paper for the PPS programme: ‘Effective
teaching and learning’
‐ Wendy Moss: ‘Notes on the theories on the teaching of reading’ (see
references)
‐ Victoria Purcell-Gates: ‘There’s reading...and then there’s reading – process
models and instruction’.
‐ Allan Luke and Peter Freebody: The four resources accessed by literate
people.
‐ Lighting the Way: the best available evidence about effective adult literacy,
numeracy and language teaching
‐ From Assessment to Practice: Research-Based Approaches to Teaching
Reading to Adults: a webcast
‐ Internet video resources on theoretical aspects of teaching reading
Section E: Further information and resources
‐ Reading – links to key articles
‐ Links to websites
‐ Useful books / packs

Section F: Glossary

Section G: Facilitators of the PPS programme

Section H: Participants in the PPS programme

Section I: Support Materials

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Learning Connections PPS Tutor Pack 

Section A: Background

Who the pack is for
This pack has been produced for adult literacies practitioners in Scotland who are working
with adult learners to develop their reading skills. It is intended that it will support both
teaching and continuing professional development. In the pack there are lots of ideas for
reading activities and resources which came from the practitioners involved in the
programme.
How the pack came about
The pack has been put together by drawing on the experiences of a group of practitioners
who took part in three continuing professional development (CPD) seminars in Glasgow and
Edinburgh in late 2008/early 2009. The seminars were funded by Learning Connections, a
Division of the Lifelong Learning Directorate of the Scottish Government and delivered by
Jay Derrick of BlueSky Learning Ltd, in collaboration with Judith Gawn from NIACE and
Irene Schwab and Samantha Duncan, both teacher educators from the Institute of
Education, University of London. More information about the facilitators can be found in
section G.
During the programme the tutors undertook classroom activities and investigations into
approaches and methods to teaching reading to adults. This pack contains ideas that were
tried out and evaluated by the participants, together with other materials and resources
recommended by participants and facilitators.
About the programme
The CPD programme consisted of three seminars alongside self-directed investigations into
classroom practice undertaken in tutors’ own classrooms. The first seminar in November
2008 aimed to stimulate thinking about the teaching of reading to adults, and about
aspects of their work the tutors felt more, or less, confident about. Working in small
groups they identified specific issues they wanted to work on and planned a classroom-
based investigation aimed at finding out more about effective classroom practice. Over the
following three months the tutors carried out their investigations and evaluated them with
the help of other colleagues on the programme.
The second and third seminars (January and March 2009) provided opportunities for the
participants to share their experiences and evaluate their investigations. There was also
expert input on three topics:

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• Working with beginner readers, and using phonics
• Working with mixed ability groups
• Effective teaching and learning
At the end of the third and final seminar, participants produced reports on their
investigations setting out what they had done, what had worked, what hadn’t and why.
The 50 participants who attended the programme were organised into nine groups. This
was done broadly on a geographic basis, in order to maximise the potential for group
members to communicate and support each other between the seminars. Mostly,
communication and interaction happened via email, although at times members did meet
up between the seminars. This emphasis on the importance of informal communication
between colleagues is a feature of the model for professional development known as
‘teacher learning communities’ (Wiliam 2007).
Participants also had access to the Learning Connections Virtual Learning Environment
(VLE), which enabled them to communicate with the group as a whole, and to access
programme documents and information.
The programme aimed to promote co-operative working between the tutors as
professionals to share and develop their own skills and knowledge. The facilitators also
provided support via email between the seminars and participants were encouraged to be
as proactive as possible, so as to get the most benefit from the programme.

Aims and objectives of the programme

The broad aims of the programme were to:
• provide a framework and activities enabling tutor-led professional development
focusing on the teaching of reading to adults
• evaluate this model of practitioner development
• compile a tutor pack of resources and findings from the action research on
effective practice in the teaching of reading to adults

The specific objectives of the programme included:
• More effective and sustained professional learning by participants
• A greater impact on effective classroom practice in the future, along the lines
suggested by research findings

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• A higher level of professional confidence and autonomy indicated by the
motivation and ability of practitioners to organise and sustain their own
professional development
• Action research findings on the effectiveness and practicability of ‘teacher
learning communities’ in the context of Scottish adult literacies work
• A model for future professional development programmes focusing on different
CPD teaching topics

Participants were involved in the planning of the structure and content of this pack, as well
as contributing their experiences and the valuable insights they gained from the CPD
programme.

Rationale for the format of the programme

The facilitators’ approach to the teaching of adult literacy was informed by a social
practices view. Encompassed in that view is a belief that tutors need to have a thorough
grounding in the range of cognitive, psychological and social theories about the
development of literacy skills in order that they can critically evaluate their practice and
provide the most appropriate strategies and support for learners. The teaching of reading is
viewed as a collaborative activity in which tutors and students work together in an equal
partnership. This view is embedded within the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Curriculum
Framework for Scotland (Communities Scotland 2005) and has been widely written about
by David Barton, Mary Hamilton, Ute Papen and others (see resources and references listed
in Section E below)
This overarching perspective also informed the approach to teacher development.
Particularly for teachers with experience, the most effective professional learning must
include collaborative, practical (classroom-based) and informal elements. Research by
Hattie, Sadler, Black and William and others (see references in Section E) strongly suggests
that the most important factor in student persistence, progression and achievement is the
quality of classroom teaching and learning, and that ‘formative assessment’ approaches1
are likely to be a key part of effective teaching and learning.

The research findings about effective teaching and learning in the adult literacies classroom
apply equally to teacher training and development. Recent development projects in
Scotland and elsewhere (see for example Ackland 2008) have pointed to the value of

1 Recently defined in an OECD publication on adult learning as follows: “ Formative assessment refers to the frequent 
assessment of learner understanding and progress to identify needs and shape teaching. Formative assessment is 
sometimes referred to as assessment for learning, distinct from assessment of learning (tests and examinations)” 
(Looney 2008).  An earlier OECD publication also emphasised the importance of systematic practice, in which formative 
assessment is a fully‐integrated feature of teaching and learning (OECD 2005). 

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Learning Connections PPS Tutor Pack 
incorporating action research into teacher training and development. This aligns well with
an emphasis on formative assessment approaches and suggests that teacher development
activities, both initial and in-service, should also be planned and organised formatively, so
as to be most effective and to have maximum and sustainable impact on classroom
practice.

What the tutors did
The tutors identified a range of issues/relating to reading that they wanted to work on,
many of which were related to encouraging a greater interest in reading, in developing
reading stamina and in developing student autonomy. Tutors wanted to know and
understand more about working with beginner readers and with mixed ability groups,
addressing individual reading difficulties and encouraging learners to read more outside of
the classroom. Choosing appropriate texts and finding stimulating and relevant reading
material was another area where tutors felt they needed more ideas. On the basis of their
identified issues, the tutors chose to focus on a specific action that they could take in the
classroom as a form of ‘mini-investigation’. The idea was not for tutors to be told what they
should do, but for them to try things out, see what worked and what didn’t and why.
Investigations and approaches that the tutors decided on included:
• Talking to learners about the reading process
• Actively involving learners in choosing texts
• Setting up a self-directed reading group
• Using the Language Experience approach with beginner readers
• Focusing on phonics
• Focusing on error analysis
• Using the ‘6 Book Challenge’ to stimulate reading
• Improving the quality of feedback on reading
• Investigating triggers that would engage people with reading
• Looking at reading outside the classroom and linking with reading in the classroom
• Using song lyrics to engage learners in reading activities
• Focusing on reading for pleasure
• Paired reading

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• Differentiating approaches to address learning styles
• Improving the assessment of individual reading skills and interests
• Involving learners as critical readers of others’ texts
• Encouraging active, critical reading
Often the approaches that tutors took involved more than one of the elements on this list.
Sometimes tutors tried one thing, found it didn’t work for their group or individual learners
and then tried something different. The main objective was that the tutors reflected on
how things worked in order to develop, refine or occasionally reject their approach.
Suggestions for using this pack as a teaching and CPD resource
You can use the ideas and resources in this pack in your own classroom teaching or you
can use them as part of professional development activities, individually or collaboratively
within a ‘teacher learning community’ (See Section D).
Whatever you choose to use, it is important to remember that not every approach will work
for every learner. It is up to individual tutors to try things out and find what works. In the
case studies, we have included information about what went well and what didn’t work so
well – which we hope will provide some pointers to things to do and things it may be best
to avoid.

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Learning Connections PPS Tutor Pack 
Section B – Teaching and Learning Activities

Talking to learners about reading
Research suggests (see for example, Duncan 2009) that it is important to talk to learners
about the ‘how’ of reading as well the ‘why’ or the ‘what’, in other words to get learners to
reflect on what they are doing when they read. Encouraging learners to talk about their
perspectives on reading can help the tutor understand more about the learner and about
how they are approaching reading. Being explicit about the approaches that you use as a
tutor, and involving learners in evaluating those approaches, including what works or
doesn’t for them, can help to give the learner more say over the process.
Case Study: Learners thinking and talking about reading
One tutor decided she could only help her learners with their reading if she had a good idea of what reading 
is to them, how they defined or understood reading.  She was working with a group of ten learners. She 
started by interviewing /meeting with each learner individually, asking questions like: 

What is reading? 
What are we doing when we read?  
What kinds of things do you read or want to read? 
What’s easy about reading?   
What’s harder about reading? 
How would you help someone who wanted to learn to read? 
The tutor also ran a ‘focus group,’ asking similar questions to the whole group, asking the learners to make 
mind‐maps on flip chart paper with their ideas.  With the learners’ permission,  she audio‐taped the 
individual meetings and focus groups.  She listened to them over and over to come up with a list of what 
reading was to her learners. Next, she gave this list to the learners and they discussed it, both in terms of 
what they each agreed or disagreed with, but also in terms of identifying what it meant for their learning. 
For example, many learners felt that you need to start by reading ‘easy’ books (with words you already 
know) over and over, before you can progress to more difficult books.  The tutor and learners discussed how 
this meant they should start by practising reading books they already find ‘easier’ and only when they are 
very confident with these, move onto more demanding texts. 
Tutor evaluation 
Learners were keen to discuss their own ideas about reading and felt pleased that these ideas were being 
taken seriously. The tutor was happy to get such a range of ideas which could be translated into ideas for 
teaching. The whole process was effective in focusing the learners and the tutor on thinking hard about  
what kind of activity or experience reading really is, instead of assuming that we already know this.   It takes 
time to speak to each learner individually and to listen to the tapes and take notes (but time well spent!)

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Learning Connections PPS Tutor Pack 
Starter activity
Introduce a discussion about reading. You can do this in pairs or in small groups. Ask
learners what they can remember about learning to read, what sort of strategies they use
already and why they find reading difficult. Ask them to think about how they see someone
who is a reader and someone who is a non-reader. Ask them why they think it is important
to be able to read and whether it is more important to read some things than others.
Development activities:
• Ask learners what they would most like to read. Encourage them to talk to each
other about their choice and explain why they have made it.
• Reflect on what you are supporting your learners to be able to do. Do you want
them to read well technically, or do you want them to be active and critical readers,
or both? Be explicit with your learners about your approaches to reading as a
teacher and be prepared to justify why you think the way you do. Do your learners
share the same reasons for improving their reading or do they have different
motivations?
• Talk about why people read and the different things that people read. You could
show a variety of reading materials. Is it more important to be able to read some
things than others? Why? Will understanding this make it easier to make choices
about what you read?
• Encourage the learners to read critically. Talk about what they think the writer is
trying to say to the readers, whether they have a particular point of view or why
they might have written what they have. Is the writer successful in getting their
point of view across?
• Involve learners in evaluating what you are doing. If you try something new around
reading, let the learners know, ask them to tell you what they think about it,
whether it helps them or not and why.
• Set up a reading group if learners are interested. Encourage them to choose what
they want to read and take responsibility for organising. There are lots of reading
groups in local libraries, some of which are run specifically for new readers. (Link?)
Further reading:
Understanding what reading is all about – Teaching Materials and Lessons for Adult Basic
Education Learners, NCSALL, July 2005

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